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Thursday, May 13, 2010

Previews HYPE: July '10

Diligently wading through the phone book that is Previews Catalogue so you don't have to...here are ten choice books shipping to comic shops in July that I think may get overlooked or that I'm just plain excited about...

3. Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1 (of 9) - A new nine issue mini-series featuring the Young Avengers on a quest to track down the Scarlet Witch, from Young Avengers series creators Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung.

4.X-Files/30 Days of Night #1 (of 6) - This is a great idea, meshing up these two properties as Mulder and Scully investigate the horrific remains of a 30 Days of Night incident, and getting caught up in the horrific mayhem.

5. Archival Reprints - Lots of old comics and comic strips get reprint series launched this month, including Barney Google (IDW), the ever-wonderful Complete Peanuts (Volume 14): 1977-1978 HC (Fantagraphics), Fritzi Ritz (IDW) who's Nancy's aunt, John Cullen Murphy's Big Ben Bolt Dailies (Volume 1) TP (Classic Comics Press), Little Lulu's Pal Tubby (Volume 1) TP (Dark Horse), and Willie and Joe: Back Home HC (Fantagraphics). Also available this month is From Shadow To Light: The Life & Art of Mort Meskin HC (Fantagraphics), featuring an overlooked, highly influencial artist, and The Smurfs: The Smurfnapper (NEM), a $1 sample of the classic series being reprinted later this year that a lot of people have been anticipating.

6. New Manga Releases - Two new manga series of note debut this month, both from Viz. The first is Bakuman, from the creative team behind Death Note, about an aspiring writer, and Seiho Boys' High School, which follows a group of boys attending an isolated school on an island, where any female interaction is an event. Also available this month, after a series of delays, is the highly-anticipated AX (Volume 1) TP, an anthology from Top Shelf that collects alternative manga.

7. Shadowland #1 (of 5) - The battle for the streets of New York begin here in this mini-series that crosses over into books like Daredevil, Spider-Man, Moon Knight and Thunderbolts.

8. Dragon Puncher (Volume 1) HC - A new book by James Kochalka, featuring a cute kitten in battle armor that battles dragons.

9. The Stuff of Legend: The Jungle #1 (of 4) - The first Stuff of Legend series was a surprise hit. Now the toys return in a new book as they continue their journey to save their young master from the clutches of the Boogeyman.

10. Thor the Mighty Avenger #1-2 - Reimagining the origins of Thor in a modern storytelling-style to make it more accessible to new audiences (before the new movie) is Roger Langridge, with some rather pretty art by Chris Samnee.